Riftec

Friction Stir Welding

Intro
The new friction stir welding (FSW) process is becoming popular as the
method of choice for joining light alloys. It works by moving a rotating
cylindrical tool along the edges of the workpieces to be joined, which then
fuse due to the plastic deformation.
This process permits tougher, lighter and better joints and can be applied
to numerous materials, even for joining light alloys to high-grade steel.
The advantages over conventional joining methods are lower costs due
to better energy efficiency, fewer protective measures (no heat radiation,
noise, inert gases) and reduced preparation and finishing. Moreover, the
joints are highly reproducible, there is little scrap, the quality is good and
the mechanical and corrosion properties are excellent.

Friction Stir Welding: Intro

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Requirements

Friction stir welding generally entails higher
demands on the motion control of the tool and
closed-loop control of downward pressure.
The innovative method can only be used if
the tool, which is a rotating steel cylinder, is
precisely guided along the seam to be welded
For this purpose, the sole manufacturer of
commercially available systems to date for fric-
Riftec
tion stir welding, Riftec, Germany, uses a tri-
cept robot with parallel kinematics for which a
special coordinate transformation is required.
In addition to handling the complicated kin-
ematics, friction stir welding requires closed-
loop force control of the pressure with which
the die is applied to the seam being welded.
Requirements at a Glance
Friction Stir Welding
Coordinate transformation
for parallel kinematics
Control of the downward tool pressure

In friction stir welding, the friction heat and pressure required to form a weld joint are
produced by a wear-resistant tool. This tool consists of a probe protruding from a shoulder.
The rotating tool is pressed into the material in the weld zone until the shoulder contacts the
workpiece surface.
Friction: Stir: Welding:
The friction between the As the tool moves along the Due to the pressure
material and the tool weld zone, the deformed additionally applied by the
produces the heat required material is stirred inside tool shoulder, it is pressed
for plastic deformation of the seam by the probe and together there and forms a
the material. moved behind it. metallic bond on cooling.

Friction Stir Welding: Requirements

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 Solution
Coordinate Transformation Control of Tool Pressure
Coordinate transformation for parallel kinematics Control of the downward tool pressure

Riftec uses a tricept robot with parallel kin- For friction stir welding, closed-loop force
ematics from Neos Robotics, Sweden, as the control of the pressure with which the die is
basic mechanical model of its friction welding applied to the weld seam is essential.
systems. Just as for distance control in laser weld-
The special transforma- ing, this is done using a compile cycle that
tion of the coordinates of the keeps the pressure on the workpieces to be
complex kinematics is inte- joined constant along the entire path.
grated into the SINUMERIK The open architecture of the SINUMERIK
840D with its open control 840D can also be used to integrate an ad-
architecture. ditional downward pressure control system
The OEM interface of the from Artis.
SINUMERIK 840D permits
integration into the control
of the transformation algo-
rithms required to describe
the kinematics. These are
linked into the NC kernel of
the basic control via compile
cycles.
Riftec

Friction Stir Welding: Solution

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Benefit
Functionality / Software Options
with SINUMERIK 840D
2nd Additional Machining Channel and Maximum Memory Expansion
3D-Tool Radius Compensation n
Advanced Position Control
Axial Coupling in Machine Coordinate System
Axis Synchronisation, Gantry Axis

Riftec
Clearance Control
Continued Machining at the Contour
Corner Velocity Adaptation
Cross-mode Action
Advantages through an Dynamic Stiffness Control
Electronic Gear Unit
n

innovative joining method Evaluation of Internal Drive Variables n

The innovative friction stir welding method is
a cost-efficient joining process that has numer-
ous advantages, in particular, for the aerospace
industry with its complex light alloys.
Siemens‘ control know-how, built up over
many years of dealing with parallel kinematics
since their inception, results in high productiv-
ity and process reliability. Due to the simple
operability of the control, which can be pro-
grammed and handled just like a conventional
machine-tool, your personnel requires no spe-
cial training for this machining technology.
With Siemens as your technology partner,
with its advanced control and drive systems,
you can benefit from the latest machining
methods.
More information
www.siemens.com/sinumerik
www.siemens.com/motioncontrol/aerospace
Extended Stop and Retract (ESR)
Fast Laser Switching Signal, Compile Cycle
Generator Operation
Interrupt Routines with High-Speed Retraction from the Contour
Laser Clearance Control, Compile Cycle
Laser Switching Signal, High Speed
Machining Package 5-Axes, TRAORI
Master/Slave for Drives
Master Value Coupling and Curve Table Interpolation
Measurement Level 2
Multi- Channel Sequence Programming
NCU Link
OEM-Transformation n
Oscillation Functions (block-related, modal and asynchronous)
Path Velocity Dependent Analog Output
Polynom-Interpolation
Precontrol Acceleration Dependent
Program Preprocessing
Quadrant Error Compensation
Retrace-Support, RESU-Compile-Cycle
Safety Integrated
Sag Compensation, Multi Dimensional
Spline Interpolation for 5-Axis Machining, Compressor n
Synchronized Actions Level 2 (up to 255 parallel actions) n
Synchronous Spindle/Multi Edge Turning
Temperature Compensation
Trailing Axes (Trail)
Transformation 7-Axes, OEM-Transformation n
Transmit/Peripheral Surface Transformation
Travel to Fixed Stop with Force Control
Volumetric Compensation
Weight Compensation

Friction Stir Welding: Benefit

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